Dani Stahl Will Take the Stairs, Thank You
Stacey Bendet showed off her Alice + Olivia collection for Spring 2010 on Saturday evening in a raw gallery space in the meatpacking district. (How raw? So raw that wooden boards had to be placed over the metal grates on the floors so that a socialite or celeb in 7-inch heels wouldn't be maimed at the show.) The all-female French rock band Plastiscines performed; the crowd included the likes of Lindsay Lohan, Jared Leto, Nicky Hilton, Mena Suvari, Shenae Grimes, Kristin Cavallari, AnnaLynne McCord, and Tinsley Mortimer. Party-hopping reporter Douglas Marshall struck up a conversation with Nylon style director and girl-about-town Dani Stahl, Nylon publisher Jaclynn Jarrett, and Eleanor Ylvisaker, a co-founder of Earnest Sewn and the denim brand's former PR queen.
Q: All of you go to a lot of shows and parties during Fashion Week. Any Fashion Week survival tips? What gets you through it?
DS: Sunglasses.
EY: Um, I don't know. Sleep maybe?
JJ: Champagne and high heels.
Q: Now that we're taking about high heels, I have a question for you, Dani. No offense to present company, but you seriously have the best legs on the scene in New York City.
EY: YES! Best ever!
Q: You're always showing them off, which is good because you have to accentuate your best asset. What's your secret?
DS: I don't take elevators.
EY: It's true. She's scared of elevators so she walks up the stairs all the time.
Q: What floor do you live on?
DS: I live on the fifth floor.
EY: By the way, there is one pair of legs out there that can compete with hers. You should see her mother's legs!
Q: Okay, so what if you had a meeting on like the 27th floor of a building?
DS: It depends on how much I really want to go to the meeting. It also depends on whether the building will allow me to take the stairs.
Q: What's the highest you've ever climbed for a meeting?
DS: 55.
Q: You climbed 55 flights? What was the meeting?
DS: I shot the Dove/Gossip Girl campaign and I had to be on the rooftop of the Palace Hotel.
Q: What time do you have to start to get there in time?
DS: It doesn't take as long as you think. Just think of a StairMaster. It's really the same amount of time as working out and listening to a song a couple of times on an iPod.
Q: That's a good point.
JJ: It is a good point because when you use the StairMaster at the gym, it often tells you that you climbed, like, 45 floors at the end.
Q: True! But what sort of shape are you in when you finally get up to, say, the 55th floor? If you did that on a StairMaster, it could be messy.
DS: I have a "regrouping minute" when I have to stop sweating and start breathing.
Q: So you don't have an editorial assistant that meets you at the top with wet towels and water?
DS: Yea, right.
Q: Okay, maybe not in this economy.
JJ: That's not true. You can get an unpaid intern to do it for free.
DS: That's right. They'd do it because they love me so much.
Q: Any Fashion Week highlights so far?
EY: Well, we saw Charlotte [Ronson] yesterday.
DS: We love Charlotte. And Alice + Olivia today.
Q: Are you all friends with Stacey Bendet? I can't imagine that you are not.
DS, EY, JJ: Yes!
JJ: [sarcastically] But we don't really like her.